


What Matters Most

by MelodicAscent



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And am head over heels in love with Keith, And live the fantasy life I've always wanted, But Kidge is just so cute, F/M, I connect with Pidge on a personal level, I'm a rarepair shipper, So I can live vicariously through Pidge, So I put the two together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 22:29:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13750518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodicAscent/pseuds/MelodicAscent
Summary: The bomb. The particle barrier. We all know that Lotor saved everyone in the end, but what was going through the heads of Keith and Pidge as they both realized that their worlds were about to fall apart?





	What Matters Most

**Author's Note:**

> I don't remember what inspired this. Some fic mentioned something briefly about Pidge being mad at Keith for almost killing himself to save everyone, so I decided to expand on it.

Why couldn’t Shiro just listen to her? She knew that there was something off about the planet, but he went in anyway. What blind force caused him to rush headlong into what evidently became the biggest death trap in the universe? And she thought Keith was the irrational one.

She thought back to Keith’s short time as leader. Hunting down Lotor was his only priority. But at the same time, he had good reason to. Lotor was Emperor Pro Tempore, and if Voltron could take him out then they could potentially end the war in one fell swoop.

Though Pidge had to admit, Keith was hotheaded. Getting them stuck on a planet that messed up their lions’ sensors was a little hard to forgive. But she began to understand why he acted the way he did when Shiro came back. Keith wanted to chase Lotor, but Shiro argued against it. But Keith was the leader at the time, not Shiro. And when Shiro yelled at Keith…

She shook her head. Something had been bugging her about Shiro ever since he came back, and this planetary bomb was further proof that something was off. He was part of the reason she had begun gravitating towards Keith more, and why it hurt her so much to see him leave. She was glad he was helping them on this mission, but she wished he were there with them.

At least Keith’s instincts might have saved them from being blown to space dust, right?

Little did she know, that’s exactly what he had planned to do.

\-----

A bomb. The whole planet was a bomb. His friends, his teammates, were all in danger, were all at risk of being destroyed in an instant. And he couldn’t break through a stupid particle barrier.

He thought back on everything that led him to that point. Leaving Voltron. Almost dying multiple times on Marmora missions. Missing the only family he had in the universe.

Truth be told, he hadn’t wanted to leave. But he felt inadequate. He felt like he couldn’t be a leader. One mistake led to another and everything seemed to go wrong. Shiro always told him afterward that he did his best, but all Keith could think about was the two of them arguing, Shiro yelling at him.

Red chose him because he relies on instincts. Black chose him because he had the potential to be a leader. So why couldn’t he do what he seemed destined to do? Were his instincts too powerful? Was he better off piloting red?

He always wondered how different things would be if Shiro had never vanished in the first place. He wondered if he would have chosen to stay with Voltron instead of doing Blade of Marmora missions. He wondered if he’d have a stronger bond with the rest of the paladins.

Lance, the goofy egomaniac who annoyed Keith but secretly made him smile.

Hunk, the lovable dork with a knack for cooking something Keith liked to eat despite being a bit picky.

Shiro, who was like a second father to him, who had taken him under his wing and had chosen him as his successor, who Keith could talk to about anything.

Allura, who, despite their original differences, found a way to care about Keith anyway and look past her misconceptions, who always seemed to learn something from Keith, and Keith from her.

Coran, who always brought smiles to everyone, who kept the mood light. The man who made sure everybody was taken care of, the man who puts everybody else above himself, the man who has witnessed disaster and still somehow smiles.

And Pidge. The girl Keith initially thought was a boy. The puzzle that needed to be solved. The daughter and sister, looking for her missing family, something Keith could definitely relate to. The genius whose intellect had saved all of them on a number of occasions. The person whose sleep schedule was just as messed up as Keith’s, who offered silent comfort whenever either of them felt lonely. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t felt some form of attraction to her, though it seemed small and gradual.

And suddenly they were all in danger. Everybody he wished he could have learned more about, the family he wished he connected to more, was at risk of losing their lives because of the witch on that ship in front of him.

He had already lost his family once. He was not about to do it again.

He shut off his long distance communicator and switched to local coms. He had an idea of how to take down that particle barrier. “Maybe not with our weapons…”

Lance, Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Coran.

Pidge.

They could all live without him. They had each other. But he knew that there was no way he’d be able to go on without them.

Despite Matt yelling at him, Keith pushed toward the ship at top speed. For them. For me. For the universe.

He took a deep breath.

For her.

He closed his eyes, preparing for impact. Then he heard an explosion and his eyes snapped open. Something had cut through the particle barrier and destroyed the front portion of the cruiser. He pulled back as quickly as he could to escape the blast.

The voice that came over the coms shocked him.

Lotor.

\-----

Pidge tried her best to keep the panic from setting in. She had to keep focused, see if she could figure out a way to somehow boost Voltron’s speed and get them away from the planet faster. Despite this, her breathing was quick and she was sweating more than usual, which is saying a lot.

She pulled up different screens, checked different systems, did everything she could to divert power to the thrusters except take down the armor. She prayed that the power of the comet that was used to create Voltron would protect them, but a feeling in her chest told her she was wrong.

There was yelling, everybody freaking out as everything came crashing down. Everything was falling apart. Focus. FOCUS!

She listened carefully to everything everyone said. Then her heart sank. She couldn’t hear Keith anymore. Keith had a tendency to talk while piloting. The fact that he had gone silent wasn’t good.

She knew he had shut them out on purpose. If he had been shot, he would have yelled before going quiet. But he had intentionally shut them out. Which meant only one thing.

He was planning on doing something stupid.

She froze. Realization hit her like a bullet. That idiot! Thinking that he can do something stupid for us!

When the explosion didn’t come, her eyes welled up with tears.

Whatever Keith had done, it must have worked.

She was about to yell out in despair, but a voice over the long distance communicator cut her short. Keith hadn’t destroyed the ship. Lotor had. And Keith was alive.

\-----

She landed her lion in it hangar and ran to the general flight vehicle hangar, where the rebel ships had begun flying in. Matt’s ship landed first, and she embraced him. He held her tight. “I was so worried about you! That was way too close!” Tears were streaming down his face. Pidge fought back her own tears and slugged his arm.

“Aw, come on, you know I won’t go down that easily.” Matt smiled, embracing her again.

“I’m just so happy you’re alive.”

Pidge hesitated, then asked the question that had been burning at her mind. “Matt...what did Keith try to do? I heard him go silent, and…”

Matt sighed. “Before Lotor came in to save us, Keith...he was about to ram his ship into the particle barrier so he could take it down and save you.”

Pidge’s face flushed with anger, and she stormed out, throwing her helmet to the ground and pushing her glasses onto her face to help emphasize the death glare she would give him when he showed up.

\-----

Keith flew into the hangar of the Castle of Lions, where the green paladin waiting for him, arms crossed. He could tell she was mad at him, but the relief at seeing her alive caused a wave of relief to crash over him.

He landed and jumped out of his cockpit and walked up to the short girl. He gave her a crooked, very guilty smile. “WHAT THE QUIZNAK WERE YOU THINKING?” she yelled. “Matt told me everything you tried to do. You almost...you…” her small hands clenched into fists, and despite the glasses, Keith could see she was fighting tears.

“I needed to do something. Somebody had to do something. I couldn’t just let you die!”

“If it weren’t for Lotor, you would have died. Did you even think about how important you are to us?”

“How could I be more important to you than you are to me?”

She slapped him. He looked down at her in shock, raising his hand to his reddening cheek. Then she stopped holding the tears back. “Keith, you mean everything to me. I don’t deal with separation well. My father and brother disappearing ruined me, and I knew there was a chance they were still alive. If you had died…”

Keith would have slapped himself if she hadn’t already done it for him. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. He realized that if either of them had died, the other would have been broken and left with permanent scars on their hearts.

He hugged her as though she were his lifeline. As though letting go would change the past and one of them would disappear. As though this would be their last moment together.

He couldn’t remember exactly when the realization hit him that he had more than just a slight attraction to the girl. But when the two of them finally let go, he vowed to himself to be the best he could be for her.

\-----

The Castle of Lions landed on Olkarion and the surviving members of the raid filed out. Lotor’s ship landed nearby. Pidge wasn’t looking forward to the stiff diplomatic meeting that awaited all of them as they talked about what had just transpired, but there was something she needed to talk to Lotor about.

She watched as the man with the long white hair climbed out of his ship. She was the first to approach him. He eyed her warily, but she showed no sign of malice. She simply nodded to him. “Thank you,” she said simply, “for saving the life of the young man who almost crashed his fighter in order to break the particle barrier.”

Lotor looked at her in surprise, then smiled in his charming way. “You’re welcome.” With that, she turned and walked away.

\-----

Epilogue

The stars were so different in space. The constellations she knew so well were nowhere to be seen. It seemed that everywhere they went, the universe looked different. Yet in some way, it all looked the same.

She sat on the roof of the barracks on Olkarion the evening after Naxzela incident. It was strange to see multiple moons in the sky, though. That was something she’d never be able to get used to.

It was late into the night. Not that it bothered her, she was more of a night owl anyway. But she needed some space away from everybody. A lot had happened that day.

She heard footsteps behind her. She didn’t need to look up to know who it was. There was only one other person who would be awake at this hour.

Keith sat down next to her, looking upwards. He rested his hand on hers, and surprisingly, she didn’t flinch away. There they sat. Neither of them said anything. They just watched the stars together.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaand I realize I'm pretty good at writing one-shots. I've tried writing multi-chapter fics (for other fandoms) before, but I could never find the drive to end them. One-shots just seem easier. Let me know if you like my style, and I'll continue to bring on the Kidge fluff and make you minority shippers happy.
> 
> Oh, and if you read my first fic, you'll notice the two are drastically different. If you prefer dark or light, let me know. Because that first one...golly that was dark. So, yeah, PLEASE let me know what you think in the comments!


End file.
